


Budding

by starrylitme



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, Dangan Ronpa Zero, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Babysitting, Children, Complicated Relationships, Cute Kids, Developing Friendships, Dysfunctional Relationships, Fluff, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Ultimate Talent Development Plan (Dangan Ronpa)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:21:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25714999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrylitme/pseuds/starrylitme
Summary: “They’re not bad children,” Usami insisted first and foremost. “They’re troubled, but deep down, they’re very, very kind.”(In which Matsuda has to help Komaeda look after some problem children. TDPverse just because.)
Relationships: Komaeda Nagito & the Warriors of Hope, Komaeda Nagito/Matsuda Yasuke, Matsuda Yasuke & The Warriors of Hope
Comments: 8
Kudos: 133
Collections: Mixed_Fics





	Budding

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for a friend as part of a trade of sorts! They asked for fluff with the WoH and this is what I came up with. It's a little tense given the circumstances but at its core, pretty wholesome. That and I've wanted to write TDP with Matsuda...and with the WoH for a while now. I think it's nonsense they weren't included. They deserved to be included. I did want to include Miaya but Usami kinda makes her redundant, rip.
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy it!

“They’re not bad children,” Usami insisted first and foremost. With her nubby paws pressed together, she was—as per usual—on the verge of tears. “They’re troubled, but deep down, they’re very, very kind.”

“They’re budding symbols of hope!” Komaeda exclaimed, ever an oblivious sunflower in the eye of a storm. “Regardless of how they may act now, they’re sure to mature wonderfully!”

Matsuda could only pinch the bridge of his nose at them both.

Okay.

It was best to start from the beginning.

* * *

Hope’s Peak Academy was a terrifying monolith and if it didn’t one day rule the world entirely, it was sure to destroy the world entirely. That increasing anxiety was largely irrelevant, except for the fact that the jackasses in the steering committee decided, why stop at manipulating and corrupting teenagers into their seedy fucking agenda—why not start even earlier? Hence, Hope’s Peak Elementary was formed.

Unsurprisingly, there were already rumors abound of mistreatment and foul play culminating in a few of the kids acting out severely. Even less surprisingly, Usami, ever the bleeding heart, couldn’t help but swoop in. For the children. Predictably, she was chewed up and spat out. Figuratively and literally, because kids could be as cruel as they were unusual.

Matsuda had full intention of staying completely out of this situation. The most he was committed to doing was keeping his batshit childhood friend away from those kids because the last thing they needed was her as an influence. He was prepared to just tut the academy and move on, ever the self-serving and conceited asshole who at least pretended to have morals.

Unfortunately, Komaeda got wrapped up in this. Next thing Matsuda knew, he had five little demons to deal with in his office, two of them doing their best to yank Komaeda’s arms out of their sockets while arguing with each other, one of them artfully arranging his books while muttering to himself about ice-cream men and snowmen, one of them glaring suspiciously at Matsuda, and the last one smiling sweetly and oh so threateningly at Matsuda.

Daimon Masaru, Utsugi Kotoko, Kemuri Jataro, Shingetsu Nagisa, and Towa Monaka respectively.

“It’s a nice office you have, Matsuda-san,” Monaka said saccharinely. “What a cozy place! I’m sure your patients feel very at home!”

Nagisa definitely snarled at him. Considering what Matsuda heard about his shithead parents, he’s not surprised nor offended.

_That’s the thing. These kids were undeniably terribly behaved, but because of their circumstances..._

“Matsuda-kun’s very kind,” Komaeda chirped, and he only winces slightly when Kotoko and Masaru kick his shins. “Please turn to him for assistance if you ever need it!”

“No way!” Kotoko declared. “He has pretty eyelashes, but he doesn’t wash his hair! That’s so disgusting I could scream!”

“I do find it hard to believe you’re supposed to be a doctor,” Nagisa remarked, lower lip jutting out. The most mature one there—still without a doubt a child.

“Has he probed with aliens?” Jataro asked, loudly and without a hint of shame.

“I could kick his ass,” Masaru said, huffing.

“We’ll be in your care, Matsuda-san,” Monaka chirped.

And so, there really wasn’t any other choice in the matter.

* * *

Daimon Masaru was easily the most obnoxious of the group. Definitely the kind of kid who would’ve bullied him if they were the same age, and just overall—a very dumb kid. Rowdy, loud, vulgar, and impatient—the encapsulation for all the reasons having children was not the blessing everyone claimed it to be.

“You have such a sissy-looking face,” Masaru told him, nose upturned. “Even sissier than Nagisa.”

Matsuda just flips through his manga. “Yep. I’ve been told. But to do something about it would be a waste of money and effort.”

“Only Komaeda’s face is sissier!” Masaru exclaimed, heated. “I bet you don’t even have a dick!”

“Maybe I don’t,” Matsuda said cryptically. “Maybe what’s between my legs is a void that will swallow you whole if you draw too close.”

“T-That’s—weird!” And yet, Masaru seemed pretty creeped out by the idea. He was a child, through and through. He sputters and sputters, face as red as his hair—and then he gets smacked in the back of his head with a ball.

“Yay! Sneak attack!” Kotoko cheered. Snarling, Masaru ran after her with flustered, bellowing anger. Matsuda watches them plainly and turns another page.

Later, Kotoko will tug him by the wrist with quite the dark and solemn look.

“If you take advantage of Daimon-kun, I’ll kill you,” she informed him. “I have no qualms marring that pretty face of yours.”

He raised a hand, waving it to pacify her.

“They may fight all the time,” Komaeda said to him, smiling broadly as he watched the kids play kickball. “But, they’re quite close. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Matsuda, trying not to think of Junko with her red pigtails and gap-toothed smile, could only agree with a low grunt.

* * *

Kemuri Jataro was—a unique individual. But, he was a creative type which meant that rather than track mud around the office, he’d make sculptures out of it. Komaeda got him ceramic but apparently the smell of that one was too duplicitous, according to Jataro. Matsuda was half-convinced he meant delicious but was not in the mood to ask.

“You know how there are glitters in the mud that sparkle in the sun?” Jataro asked, showing him a dull clump of mud. “Do you think—it’s put there by the seasons?”

“Don’t eat the mud,” he said. Jataro blinks at him and then smears the mud all over his mask so that it covers what little bits of his face are exposed.

“Okay, no more looking.”

Jataro screeches like a trapped rabbit when Matsuda tries to wipe him down. Komaeda has to quickly intervene, covering Jataro with his blazer. Like a bird that thinks it’s night, Jataro calms. He’s quiet as Matsuda has to maneuver to clean his face without looking at him. Thankfully, Jataro talks more with his hands when like this.

“I see, I see,” Komaeda chirps. “Ah, how interesting, Kemuri-kun! Such brilliance!”

Matsuda finishes, and Komaeda tugs the blazer off. Suddenly, Jataro is looking up at him with a sparkling gaze.

“Have you ever stuck your fingers in someone’s brain before?”

“Yes,” Matsuda replied, straight-faced. “It’s squishy.”

“Squishy?!”

“Very squishy.”

Jataro digs his fingers into his skull, murmuring the word squish over and over again. Komaeda hums, looking thoughtful.

“Matsuda-kun, you don’t mind—certain noises, right?”

“Just get the kid whatever,” he snapped. “As long as he doesn’t eat the squishy, it’s whatever, right?”

“He’s not going to eat it,” Komaeda replied.

“Then _whatever_.”

“Do you think aliens are also squishy?” Jataro asks.

* * *

“You work closely with the faculty. I assume you’ve met my parents, then.”

Shingetsu Nagisa doesn’t beat around the bush. Matsuda isn’t surprised that the kid’s scoping him out. Komaeda’s one thing. Annoying but ultimately holding no real power under the children, not even physical with how frail he was. Because of that, he was someone they _could_ relax around.

“I have,” he confirmed because there’s no point in hiding it, even as Nagisa tenses up.

“What are you planning?” he demands. “You’re not the kind of person to get involved out of the goodness in your heart. Not if you work with people like them.”

Nagisa’s a smart kid, but because he’s a kid, he still has simplistic ideas of morality. Although even if that developed, Matsuda’s sure that he wouldn’t be in his good graces. Which is just as well, considering he’s not a good person even by looser moral standards.

“Komaeda’s my patient,” Matsuda said. “I have to make sure you brats don’t get him killed, either by accident or malice.”

Nagisa’s glare sharpened. Matsuda has no doubts about what the kid’s thinking. The kid trembles, and then.

“That guy—is fond of you, though. He says you’re a good person.” With a huff, Nagisa declared. “He’s an idiot. A total idiot.”

“Yep. Which is why someone needs to look after him. He can barely take care of himself sometimes.” Matsuda doesn’t talk about Komaeda’s truly self-destructive tendencies. How he’d throw himself to the ground happily for others to step on and to trample if it so fits their fancy. How one time in a feverish haze, Komaeda had expressed terror for Matsuda being close by. How he practically begged him to run far, far, away. Fucking idiot. “He’s interesting, that said. It’d be a shame if something happened.”

Nagisa stares at him.

“What do you think about us?”

“I don’t. If all you’re worried about is yourself and your friends, then I’m not worth consideration.”

Nagisa swallows, and then, his head ducks. It’s like the kid is shy all of a sudden.

“Okay, then I won’t consider you at all.”

After that, Nagisa’s a little less on edge around him.

* * *

He already knows that alleviating Utsugi Kotoko’s concerns would take more than a few words. What was more important was how quickly she warmed up to Komaeda in spite of everything. She bossed him around and bullied him, sneering and snickering all the while. She demanded he spoil her by peeling chestnuts for her to eat messily.

When Matsuda approached, she would stick close to Komaeda and grip tightly to his coat. She’d glare at him suspiciously while Komaeda beamed.

“Matsuda-kun!”

He pauses peeling to wave and ends up pricking his finger while distracted. He hurriedly pulls his hand away as to not get blood on the chestnut, and Kotoko already has a bandaid ready to bandage his finger. It’s very pink and girly. There are others of the same kind all over Komaeda’s hands, and Matsuda regards them coolly.

“It’s because he’s so hapless that he needs us to take care of him,” Kotoko said, nose upturned. “I swear, those rotten adults are punishing us way more than they’re punishing him.”

Komaeda giggles. Matsuda rolls his eyes at this.

“You’re supposed to be the caretaker here, Komaeda.”

“You’re right,” he chirps. “I’m so sorry, Utsugi-san. I’ll buy you more chestnuts to make up for this, okay?”

“Make it two, no three, no five! Five!” She held up her hand. “Five is a much better number! It’s half of ten and a twentieth of a hundred! A good, well-rounded number! Way better than one and four, even though it’s one plus four!”

“Five bags it is,” Komaeda chirped.

“Actually make it ten!”

“Okay, ten it is...”

“Ten hundred!”

“Okay~”

Kotoko puffed her cheeks.

“He has more than enough money to burn,” Matsuda told her dryly. “You should be asking him for a castle made of peeled chestnuts.”

Her eyes sparkled with interest but then she hurriedly turned away.

“If anyone needs a castle, it’s Monaka-chan! Hmph!” Pausing, she spun back towards them on her heel. “But I wouldn’t mind a kyuute chestnut palace!”

Komaeda cheerfully agreed to that, too. Matsuda does cover his mouth to hide the slightest of smiles.

“That said, if we get a castle, you’re still to be our servant, Komaeda Nagito!” Kotoko announced. “Understood?!”

“Understood!” Komaeda, too, paused. “But, Matsuda-kun will have to come with because he’s my doctor.”

Kotoko sours, but when she eyes Matsuda, there’s a flicker of something in her gaze. It’s not exactly hesitation or uncertainty, but her guard remained.

“Not the gross kind of doctor, right?”

“Matsuda-kun is a slob, which he should do something about,” Komaeda sighed.

“Fuck off, I’m grown enough to be as messy as I want,” he snapped.

“Yeah, Servant, that’s fine!” Kotoko snapped back. “That’s the good kind of gross!”

Komaeda finally looked just the slightest bit withered. But with Kotoko looking so stern, there was naught to do but duck his head. A flash of a smile on Kotoko’s face—one that immediately faded when she noticed Matsuda staring.

He ducked his head as well.

“Having a doctor that’s the good kind of gross might not be so bad,” she said. “But I’m still keeping an eye on you.”

* * *

“Just like Komaeda-san, Matsuda-san’s become a familiar face.”

Towa Monaka—is the most dangerous one of the bunch. He knows firsthand that she’s incredibly intelligent and gifted for her age. She’s the one likeliest to actually be scouted once she reaches high school, and she knows it. Despite that, the edges of her saccharine smile are harder than stone.

She views all of them with disdain. Even the other children. Who, as of now, are playing a game in which they run around and tackle each other. Monaka is to join them later, of course, but she feigned illness from too much sun and thus—here she is. Giving him a plastic smile with a serrated underbelly.

“Monaka can tell just from looking at you,” she said cheerfully. “Matsuda-san is just like Shingetsu-kun. Ehe. Monaka loves Shingetsu-kun, so...”

“He’s a good kid,” Matsuda retorted before she could finish. “All of them are. And you know it.”

Monaka keeps smiling, but her eyes are blank as they regard him. She’s expecting him to continue. Either to include or the exclude so that she could react with dismissal in either case. Matsuda stares back, unimpressed and mouth sealed shut.

After a while, she gave a tinkling laugh.

“I take it back. You’re not stupid enough to like, Matsuda-san.” Her head tilts. “Which you must know already. Why else would you look at Komaeda-san the way you do?”

Komaeda was currently watching over the kids. He was at ease, even when the kids started demanding he cater to them with snacks and drinks. Thankfully, he came prepared. Matsuda even made sure he did.

“You mean why I look after him?” he asked. “The reason for that is obvious.”

“It is,” Monaka replied. “After all, Matsuda-san isn’t stupid. Nor is he nice. The only reason someone like Matsuda-san would like someone like Komaeda-san is for the same reason Monaka likes Shingetsu-kun, Kotoko-chan, Daimon-kun, and Kemuri-kun.” It’s then that her smile drops. “It’s nice to be liked by stupid people who don’t know any better. Isn’t it?”

“Not really,” he said. “Actually, his adulation of people like me is the thing I like the least about him.” He does glance at her, regarding her carefully. “It’s a shame because he’s too sincere for his own good.”

“So are they,” Monaka whispered, gaze avoiding his in favor of them. They’ve noticed, and Kotoko waves her over frantically. Nagisa gets flustered. Masaru calls out. Jataro has to be stopped by Komaeda from chewing on the plastic wrapper. Just like that, Monaka’s plastic smile has been re-plastered to her face and she wheels towards the other kids before Matsuda could say anything else.

Not that there was anything else to say.

* * *

“They’re all good children,” Usami insists as Matsuda has to wipe Komaeda down because those brats have scribbled all over him in permanent marker. “You two are working very well with them! Please don’t give up!”

“Never,” Komaeda swears. “Right, Matsuda-kun? There’s no way we could ever abandon those kids.”

“Nope,” he agreed coolly, ignoring Usami’s tearful and babbling gratitude. Instead, he focused on scrubbing Komaeda raw. “If you’re going to spoil them, you might as well rent out amusement parks and beaches for them to play in.”

“I might need more than just you there to make sure nothing happens,” Komaeda replied, unusually serious.

“I’m sure some of your idiot classmates would happily volunteer. Hell, I’m sure they’ll get along with those kids.” Matsuda bit his tongue before adding, “They need other positive influences. And blah, blah, blah, symbols of hope supporting one another and glowing all the brighter.”

“It would be so much brighter! It’d be positively radiant, Matsuda-kun!”

Komaeda’s eyes were sparkling. Matsuda wouldn’t be surprised if those kids each made the same expression, some more open than others.

_Towa Monaka may be incredibly jaded, but... Even she might also..._

Ah. Weird. He felt optimistic about this. Or maybe he just wanted everything to turn out okay, despite Hope’s Peak being such a hellscape. Sure, it was going to let them all down tremendously one day, but it won’t be tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow.

So, he supposed they should enjoy everything while they can and—hope that it makes a difference. Or something.

“Radiant,” he repeated, mulling that word over.

_Hope is only ever wishful thinking. But that doesn’t make it insignificant, especially for people who still have a lot of growing up to do. Those kids—and even Komaeda’s idiot classmates. Even if the school falls apart..._

**_It’d be nice to have support from each other if nothing else._ **


End file.
